As candidates and supporters packed out cafes and community centres, desperate to shore up to support on caucus eve, life continued as normal for most Iowans on Monday – with many critical of how hopefuls for the Republican presidential nomination have conducted their campaigns.

At Sam's Bar and Grill, located on a small retail park with a large, mostly empty car park in Altoona, 11 miles north-east of Des Moines, patrons and bar staff alike were not interested in the jostling in their state.

"It means nothing to me," said Mike H, drinking a beer as he watched Nebraska's football team lose to South Carolina. "They're a bunch of empty-headed yahoos."

Mike – who did not want to reveal his full last name – said he was an independent who normally voted for "who's gonna do the least harm".

"We're a blue collar agricultural state where we believe hard work pays off, and we want a president who feels the same way."

He said he would not be involved on Tuesday. "I'd like to see them telling us what they're going to do, instead of telling us about their counterparts and how badly they're going to do."

Chuck Folsom, tending the bar on Monday afternoon, was nodding firmly in agreement. "All they do is trash talk," he said. "They don't say what they're gonna do, they just say 'This is what this guy did wrong.'"

Folsom said he didn't have any preference towards any Republican contestant. "Not really, I haven't seen any of them back up what they've said."

In Oralabor, eight miles to the north of Altoona, customers at Tractor Supply Co were more engaged but still turned off by the campaigning, much of which has been negative over the last week.

"The campaigning doesn't do a whole lot," said Bob, a farmer in Iowa who declined to give his surname. He said he was a registered Republican who would attend his local caucus on Tuesday.

"Right now I wouldn't guarantee who I'm going to go for," Bob said, echoing the mood at a Rick Santorum event earlier on Monday.

He said as he lived in a rural farming community the campaigning and media circus in the state did not affect him greatly – apart from a certain reporter's questions delaying the delivery to his livestock of veterinary supplies he was collecting.

Tom Brix, a Tractor Supply Co employee, was one of the few encountered on Monday who had made up his mind. "I'm planning to vote," Brix said, adding that he would go for Romney as the Massachusetts man "just seems more structurally sound than the others".

As for the clamour of the caucuses: "It's not that bad, I've lived here my whole life so it just seems normal."

Carol Timke was loading animal feed into the trunk of her car. Declining assistance, she said "everyone likes" the media attention in the state. "It's good for the economy."

Timke said she was an independent, but was considering registering on Tuesday and voting for a Republican candidate, although she had not decided which one.

Earlier, at a Rick Santorum event in Polk City, 15 miles north of Des Moines, some of those turning out to see the former Pennsylvania senator remained undecided. Dave Howlett, a teacher from nearby Huxley, was edging towards Santorum but was still making up his mind.

"I'm a conservative republican," Howlett said. "Rick has a good stance on family and family principles, and on trying to put restrictions on abortion.

"I want to go with the guy who has the best chance of beating Obama, and Santorum is moving up."

But Howlett added that he thought Mitt Romney had "the best stance on the economy".

Back at Sam's Bar and Grill, owner Susan Garner said the attention on Iowa had not had much of an impact on her this time round – although in her former role running a dry cleaning business "we used to get all dry and fold from you guys".

"It's nice PR for [Iowa]," Garner said. "People realise we're not Idaho, not Ohio, it puts us on the map, people are familiar with us."

She said had taken an interest in the caucus race. "But we get it so shoved down our throat that right now I turn it off."

Along the bar a stocky man in a baseball cap, who declined to be named, seemed similarly turned off by the topic.

"We're at a bar. Politics don't get talked about," he said, without looking away from the television.

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